Crystal Fever
by Lindous
Summary: Garnet always seemed quiet and aloof after missions, but after the gems' latest mission, she can't hide the fact that she is sick from Steven and the other gems.
1. Chapter 1

Steven happily plucked and strummed away at his ukulele, smiling and humming along. The sun shone through the temple's windows and gently warmed the wooden floor, and Steven began to dance to his song. He stopped dancing for a moment, his foot in mid air, as he plucked a mis-tuned string, and slowly began to adjust the knob.

A bright flash of light erupted from the teleportation pad, and the three crystal gems appeared.

"Guys!" Steven yelled, rushing forward with a smile on his face. "Guess what? I created a new song! You should hear it! I have been trying to include a lot of our adventures in the lyrics, but it's still coming along." Steven was practically jumping up and down with a bright smile on his face. Garnet looked over at him and smiled, remembering seeing his mother, Rose, once having a similar look.

"That's wonderful, Steven," Garnet said with a simple smile. She looked at the ground for a moment and shivered. "I need to head into the temple for a little while to take care of something. Would you mind waiting for a bit?"

As Steven nodded, Pearl looked at Garnet curiously, almost scrutinizing. As Garnet headed off, Amethyst settled onto the couch with a bag of chips in hand, and began to happily munch at them. Steven turned back to his ukulele, and began to miscellaneously strum it once again. Pearl merely stared after the direction in which Garnet left.

"Hey, Amethyst," Pearl said slowly, not breaking her gaze from the direction of the temple. "Did something seem a bit off about Garnet to you?"

"Oh, lighten up, Pearl," Amethyst said. "She's always aloof after missions."

"So, what did you guys do today?" Steven asked curiously.

"We went out and fought a giant squid. It was pretty awesome," Amethyst said.

"That is the coolest thing ever! Did you get splattered by its guts! Oh! Did you get stuck in its suction cups?!" Steven kept rattling off questions while Amethyst ate.

Pearl's head snapped upward as she heard coughing coming from within the temple.

"No, the fight wasn't hard. Garnet took a bit of hit, but she got back up and was fine," Amethyst said.

Steven paused for a moment upon hearing this. "_That's a bit weird," _he thought. "_Garnet can predict most enemies' movements. A giant squid really isn't that special, so how could it have reached her?"_

"Did you guys distract her at all?" Steven said, and then the coughing was heard again.

"No," Pearl said slowly, and now Amethyst had stopped eating and was looking up at the temple as well. "Come to think of it, she seemed a little bit unfocused for the past few days."

Steven gasped and began waving his arms. "What if she was infected by some sort of nano virus by some foe! And what if they try to render control over her!"

"Steven, relax," Pearl said, her hand moving to her forehead. "How do you even come up with these things?"

"I don't know," Steven said quietly. "My imagination just does all the work."

Amethyst laughed loudly as Pearl raised her eyebrows at Steven. "Well whatever it is," Pearl said, looking back at the temple. "Garnet has been acting strange lately. I'm going to go check on her."

"Wait, I'm coming to!" Steven yelled, racing after Pearl, and Amethyst followed in suit.

* * *

**Alright, first chapter is up. I'll try and update this in awhile, so that we can get into that good hurt/comfort that every sick fic brings in =)**

**I don't own Steven Universe. I have no idea why I have to say this on a fanfiction website, but I guess it's atleast traditional. =D**


	2. Chapter 2

Garnet covered her mouth calmly as she coughed, leaning slightly against the side of the wall. She shook her head and continued her way toward her room inside the temple.

As she stepped into her room, Garnet looked around at the treasures her room harbored. From previous missions, relics were stored in glass prisms and on display incase needed. In across one of the walls, weapons and tools were neatly organized for later use. The walls themselves were a dark red hue, and there hung a few pictures of Garnet and the other crystal gems, as well as a mini-scale models of various temples.

Garnet sighed as she sat down on a small chair in one corner. There was no bed in the room; crystal gems generally had no use for sleep, unless that gem was Amethyst. Garnet smiled at the thought of how Amethyst took on more human interests, and her thoughts began to drift back to the mission.

When the squid had thrown her, Garnet knew that she should have seen it coming. Lately, Garnet had felt herself weakening, but normally gems' bodies would replenish themselves when hurt or weak. For some reason, Garnet had felt herself continuing to struggle slightly in battle, and she was afraid that Pearl and Amethyst were beginning to pick up on this, save for Steven. There had been a reason that Garnet had chosen not to have Steven join them on missions lately.

Still, Garnet felt important when she was at full strength and able to help her teammates, but she wouldn't be of any use whatsoever is she weakened too drastically. This she was afraid of.

As a full blow coughing fit erupted suddenly from Garnet, her glasses fell off her face and disappeared onto the floor. Garnet let out a soft moan and strained to listen as she heard voices heading toward her.

"Garnet!" Amethyst called out. "Are you alright?"

"I re-tuned my ukulele!" Steven yelled excitedly, waving his instrument.

"You guys can't go bother Garnet!" Pearl whispered furiously at Steven and Amethyst. "She is probably doing something important!"

"Well, it's better than just wondering what is making that awful rasping sound," Amethyst said as she walked into Garnet's room. "And anyway...Whoa..." Amethyst paused as she took in Garnet's appearance, slumped into a seat and rasping. "Garnet," Amethyst said quietly, stepping forward, "Is there anything I can..."

"Amethyst! Her privacy!" Pearl yelled after Amethyst, stepping into Garnet's room and stopping upon seeing Garnet.

Garnet looked up calmly, and stood up.

"Garnet, was that you just now? Are you alright?" Pearl asked slowly, taking a tentative step forward. Garnet shrugged in response, and began to speak.

"I'm fine," Garnet said quietly. "That mission only took a bit out of me, that's all." She couldn't let them know that she was weakening.

"Well, we were planning on heading into Beach City with Steven," Amethyst cheered happily. "You coming?"

"Um, yeah, of course. Where exactly are we heading to?" Garnet said.

"I don't know," Steven said with a shrug. "I just figured we could go hang out!"

As Garnet slowly followed Steven and Amethyst out of the room, Pearl stared after them, looking slightly distraught. "_I wonder what's wrong..."_ Pearl thought, and dashed after them out of the temple.

* * *

As the gems walked down the boardwalk, Steven dashed from store to store, pointing out what was knew and what he wanted to save up for, and Garnet smiled as she watched the youngest of the gems, her student, in all of his enthusiasm.

"Look at that! That's the store where I ordered my whacky-sack! And there's the fair!" Steven said excitedly.

"Cheeseburger-backpack!" Amethyst laughed under her breath.

Garnet felt as though for the first time in the last few days, she was returning to full strength. It helped to see people and be out in the sunlight, even though she wasn't human. If nothing else, it improved her mood.

"Hey, Steven, what is that?" Pearl said, pointing at a roller coaster track.

"Oh!" Steven said, his face lighting up. "That's a roller coaster! It's a ride that people like to go on. Do you want try it, Pearl?" Steven said cheerfully, pulling month-old ride tickets that he had gotten for the fair.

As Steven moved out to the roller coaster with Pearl, Amethyst stood by Garnet and crossed her arms happily.

"So," Amethyst said finally. "This is great. I really can't imagine not having him around. He's just got so much of his mother in him."

Garnet watched as Steven and Pearl went down the first hill of the roller coaster, Steven with a big smile and his arms in the air and Pearl looking perfectly terrified.

"Yeah," Garnet said finally, and then coughed into her sleeve. Slowly, the light cough began to turn into a full-blow fit.

"Um, Garnet," Amethyst said slowly, watching as Garnet leaned onto one knee, still coughing. "Garnet..."

Garnet was suddenly gasping for breath, her glasses beginning to slide off her face. Amethyst leaned down as Garnet slumped downward and fell forward.

"GARNET!" she yelled. "Pearl! Steven! Come on! Something's wrong with Garnet! She's out cold!"

Pearl and Steven looked down from where they were getting off of the roller coaster and rushed over.

* * *

**Hey, sorry if this chapter didn't go into hurt/comfort too much, just had to establish more to the plot line. Next chapter coming soon!**


	3. Chapter 3

Garnet felt herself being smashed against the sand, flung around mercilessly by a beach monster that faintly resembled a large bear. Despite summoning her gauntlets and doing her best to dodge the beast, Garnet still managed to end up in its grasp and felt as though she were being crushed between its paws, her lungs burning.

Gems could only die if they were in battle. Garnet felt herself actually panic slightly at this thought, despite her normally-calm demeanor.

Pearl and Amethyst stood only a small distance away, chained to the sand and unable to help. They yanked at the chains which bound them and screamed as they watched Garnet being pummeled, and too weak to fight back.

"Garnet! Don't move! I'll save you!" Steven yelled, running out onto the beach toward the beast. As the beast turned and flung Garnet one last time, it started to charge Steven with a loud roar. Garnet weakly tried to get up from where she was on the sand, bleeding heavily, and her gauntlets fading from existence as the last bit of life began to ebb out of her.

"Steven..." Garnet said, watching the beast opens its jaws. "STEVEN!" she screamed, and Steven disappeared from her sight as the beast jumped forward, and the jaws closed.

* * *

As fast as the nightmare began, it was over. Garnet's eyes shot open, and the adrenaline which shot through her system allowed her to sit up for a moment.

"Wha-" Garnet began to speak, but the words caught in her throat.

Garnet felt her arms tremble and slip as she fell back onto her back. She was lying across Steven's bed back at the temple, and noticed that instead of her regular combat attire, that she wore softer, red sweats.

Moonlight streamed in through the window, and the floor below was lit with a dim glow. Garnet felt as though she had been hit by a truck, and was sweating slightly. She felt as if her brow were almost on fire, and that being something she had experienced before, she was not excited to experience it again.

"I don't know, Amethyst, are you sure that she didn't just...I don't know!" Pearl cried.

"Pearl! Get a hold of yourself! Crying isn't going to solve this mess!" Amethyst asserted. "You need to relax. I get that this is a bit unusual, but we need to be strong for her."

"Guys," Steven said softly. "She was shaking...and coughing. I think she might just be sick, that's all."

"Yes, but gems don't get sick..." Pearl said, shaking her head before cupping her face into her hands. "What if she has to give up her physical form like Rose?"

Steven remained quiet for a moment as he thought, and then smiled. "Hey," he said, walking over and placing a hand on Pearl's shoulder. Pearl looked up. "Garnet is not going to end up like my mother. It will be okay. She's just a little bit sick, I know it. I've had the flu before, and I shivered the same way. I know that I'm half-human, but I bet there is some way for gems to get sick also."

Pearl smiled and patted Steven's hand. "I'm sure you're right Steven," she said quietly. There was a sound of light coughing, and all three gems turned to look up at Garnet, who was gazing over at them.

"What happened?" she asked finally.

"You passed out at the Boardwalk," Amethyst explained quietly. "And you wouldn't wake up. You were having trouble breathing, and the entire way back you somehow kept struggling, like you were fighting something."

Garnet nodded, and then coughed heavily. She stood up, and jumped to the lower floor, landing on both feet and swaying.

"Garnet, is that really necessary?" Pearl asked, crossing her arms. "You're not well. You really shouldn't be up."

"Don't mother me," Garnet said gruffly. "I have to check the temple to see if there is any missions we need to take care of..." Even in her weakened state, Garnet was just about able to shove past Pearl and Amethyst, despite their protests of wanting Garnet to stay and rest.

"Wait!" Steven yelled, holding out his hand. "Garnet, please..." He looked as though he was about to start whimpering. "If you go, then you won't get better, and then we will have to bring you back again, and then we won't get to go on as many cool missions together, and then if you push yourself too hard, then maybe you will end up like my mother..."

This caused Garnet to stop mid-step and turn around. "Steven?" she asked quietly, and looked up. Garnet coughed into her arm, and clutched her head.

"Yeah Garnet?" Steven asked.

"Help me back into bed...please," Garnet said at last, swaying feverishly. Steven helped her back up the stairs, and watched as Garnet removed her glasses and flopped back onto Steven's bed.

"What are these?" she asked, looking down at the red sweats she was wearing.

"I helped pick them out," Steven said triumphantly. "Pearl helped. We figured you should be more comfortable. Get some rest, okay?"


	4. Chapter 4

When Garnet woke up a few hours later, she hadn't expected to feel even worse than before. Her head felt as if it were about to split open, and the gemstones on her wrists throbbed painfully.

"Good morning!" Steven cheered in a sing-song voice. Garnet groaned, rubbing her forehead. "I was gonna make you breakfast, but I wanted to see if you were hungry first."

Steven hopped down from his stool beside Garnet's bed, and began to climb downstairs. "You wait right up there Garnet! I'll be back in a moment!"

"Um, Steven," Garnet said quietly. Weakly.

"Yeah Garnet?" Steven asked excitedly, poking his head back above the second floor.

"It's just, I don't know about this," Garnet said calmly, sitting up. "I just feel like I need to rest, that's all..."

"What? Oh no! I'll take care of you Garnet, don't worry!" Steven cried excitedly, rushing back toward the kitchen.

Garnet lay back down and shivered. The temple doors opened as Pearl walked out of her room and into the main part of the house, looking around.

"Steven?" Pearl asked, curiously sniffing the air. "What are you doing?"

"Making soup!" Steven said, turning around from where his arms were raised at the stove. "Normally I'd have Garnet help, but it's for Garnet. So..."

"Well, it certainly smells interesting," Pearl said with a small smile. "How is Garnet? Is she doing any better?"

"She seems a bit better, but not ready to come out of bed yet. I don't know," Steven said with a shrug, and turned back to the soup.

"Amethyst and I were looking through some ancient texts to see if we could figure out anything about gems contracting strange diseases, but not much has come up. Amethyst went to go talk to your father to see if Rose ever kept any information. It's not likely, but until we figure out what's going on, its worth a try," Pearl said.

"Pearl, I know that Garnet will be fine," Steven said happily. "Just like when you guys take care of me when I'm sick...I just want to return the favor. And the soup is gonna be really good! I can tell!"

For a moment, Garnet could have sword that she smelled smoke.

"Wait, Steven, you don't need to..." Garnet rasped, standing up from the bed and about to climb down the stairs before she began to sway on her feet.

"Garnet! Lie down! You're still so weak..." Pearl said.

"Greg didn't have much to say!" Amethyst called out, walking into the house from the beach. "Rose didn't seem to have any records of gem diseases that she kept outside of the temple. Greg said he did remember Rose getting sick once, but that was a long time ago. Hey Steven, what's with the soup? That smells good!"

Garnet cringed slightly when the smell hit her nose, and for the first time in decades, she felt her stomach turn.

"Garnet! How are you feeling?" Amethyst asked, and was met with moan. Garnet had gone pale. "Oh boy..." Amethyst said softly.

Pearl and Amethyst each grabbed a shoulder as they rushed Garnet outside, and Steven turned back to the soup.

"I guess it can wait awhile," he said, turning the heat off from under the food when he heard the sound of retching coming from outside.

Pearl and Amethyst half-carried, half-dragged Garnet back inside a few moments later, bringing her back toward the bed.

"She's shivering...and she's feverish...Steven! Don't humans place a cloth on their heads when this happens?" Pearl asked uncertainly.

"Oh yeah!" Steven said, coming up the stairs a moment later with a wet cloth in his hand. He intricately began to lay it out over Garnet's forehead, right over her third eye. The gemstones on her hands glowed very faintly.

"Hmmm..." Steven said. "I'm going to go wrap up the soup!"

"Save me some!" Amethyst called.

"No! It's for Garnet!" Steven responded. "It's special. My dad brought over soup like this whenever I got sick, and now it's going to help her get better when she wakes up."

Pearl sighed, slumping her shoulders. "I'm going to check the temple again. Amethyst, come on!"

"Keep an eye on her, Steven!" Amethyst said.

"Okay!"

* * *

**It's actually kinda hard to picture Garnet being this weak...Although I kinda like this =)**

**Thanks for reading! Next chapter coming soon**


	5. Chapter 5

"WHOO! I win!" Amethyst cried, throwing the game controller into the air.

"Awwww," Steven said, his hands clutching the sides of his head. "So close..."

While Steven and Amethyst were downstairs playing video games, Pearl was keeping vigil with Garnet. Over the last forty-eight hours, Garnet's condition only seemed to deteriorate further. As Garnet let out a rasping cough, Pearl picked up the glass of water on the night stand and leaned in, pushing it towards Garnet's mouth until the sick gem managed to swallow some water, and the coughing slowly subdued. Water couldn't do much for a severe inflammation in the throat.

From the small amount of movement that Garnet gave, Pearl was able to assume that the muscle aches that Garnet felt were all but entirely crippling. The gemstones on Garnet's hands were still glowing occasionally, and seemed to have a pulse of their own. Pearl and Amethyst had continued to need to run Garnet outside the temple whenever she became sick, causing her to grow somehow weaker. Her face flushed from a newly-risen fever.

Pearl sighed, worry creasing her face. This was not good. Garnet wasn't able to eat anything since Steven tried making soup, and she was hardly able to move, let alone stand.

Ancient texts from within the temple, which, ironically, Pearl had found in Garnet's room, depicted a wasting disease that was unresponsive to most forms of treatment, and showed similar symptoms to Garnet's affliction. The cure to the disease was hardly known, and not entirely listed in the text.

"So, is Garnet doing any better?" Amethyst called out, walking up the stairs.

"No," Pearl sighed miserably. "She's getting worse...and she's moaning every now and then. Have you ever actually heard her moan?"

"Well, she grunts when she is fighting, but I've never heard her moan..." Amethyst said, looking slightly more discouraged. "But she'll get better..."

"Amethyst," Pearl began. "I think I know the disease that she has contracted. Remember when we went to the Sea Citadel, a few days before we found the squid? There was an epidemic there a few decades ago...That place was deserted..."

Amethyst's breath caught in her mouth, and she felt herself go slightly numb. "You're not saying..."

Pearl barely choked back sobbing, her small form beginning to tremble. "She just keeps getting worse and I don't know what to do..."

"Pearl! Amethyst! How is Garnet?" Steven said, popping his head up to the next floor from where he stood on the stairs.

Pearl and Amethyst snapped around to look at Steven. "Shhhh!" Pearl scolded. "She's sleeping."

Steven looked slightly downcast, and began to move back downstairs. Amethyst turned and stared at Pearl, looking slightly shocked.

"Wait, Steven..." Pearl said quietly, standing up. "I didn't mean it like that..."

"It's okay, I'm going to go see my dad," Steven said, his voice cracking slightly. "I wanted to go talk to him." Neither Pearl nor Amethyst made a move to stop Steven as he walked out the door, his head hung low.

"Can I talk to you outside?" Amethyst said through gritted teeth, gesturing to a sleeping Garnet. Pearl nodded, and they walked outside of the temple and out onto the beach.

Amethyst walked out onto the sun-lit sand, taking in a deep breath before she whipped around to face Pearl, leaning into Pearl's face.

"What is your problem?! Did you have to talk to him like that?" she said accusingly.

Pearl, taken aback by Amethyst's outburst, had to stop herself from drawing her spear from her gem.

"Well, what did you want me to do?! I'm trying to take care of Garnet! At least I'm not off playing video games the entire time!" Pearl screamed back.

"He's thinking of his mother right now, Pearl. I'm only trying to keep his mind off of that while Garnet recovers. Did you really think that I was just going to sit around while Garnet is _dying_? You aren't the only one who is struggling with this right now! Stop thinking of yourself in this situation! We need to look after Steven to!"

Pearl couldn't stop herself from bursting into complete hysterics at this point, her arms flying around Amethyst's shoulders.

"I can't do it Amethyst! We already lost Rose, we can't lose Garnet!" Pearl sobbed, her words barely decipherable and tears pouring down her face.

"...We have Steven. Garnet wants us to protect him, no matter what happens to her," Amethyst said.

* * *

"Dad! Hey, Dad!" Steven yelled at the car wash, his arm raised.

"Hey kid!" Greg Universe called, a big grin spreading over his face. "How's Garnet doing? Amethyst came by the other day and said that she was feeling sick."

Steven glumly shook his head, staring at the ground, but then looked up.

"Actually, I wanted to talk about mom," he said quietly, rocking on his feet.

* * *

**This seems like a pretty good place to end the chapter. I loved the episode "So Many Birthdays" just because there was that moment where you saw all of the gems, even Garnet, in a moment of serious vulnerability. That's what I love about serious characters like Garnet sometimes, as she shows her love for Steven in really subtle ways, but cares in a way like neither of the other gems understand. Definitely my favorite character. **

**Thanks for reading so far! And thanks for all the awesome reviews! **

**Next chapter coming soon =) **


	6. Chapter 6

Garnet flinched when the gemstones on her palms began to burn again, and she let out a soft moan. They continued to pulse until Garnet finally opened her eyes for the first time in a full day, and stared at the glowing gemstones on her hands. She felt too weak to stand. She hardly knew where the time had gone, having been out of it, even when she was awake, since the first day that the gems had declared her ill. Garnet's throat still felt incredibly sore, as well as her head. She knew she couldn't eat anything without only limited success.

As Garnet lay on the bed in stunned silence, her thoughts drifted back to the one time she remembered Rose becoming ill. Rose hadn't been able to hide it either, despite having tried. That was one thing that Garnet always respected about Rose: she loved the other gems enough to put them first, but still was able to make concessions for herself later. That was what Garnet wanted, but what seemed impossible to achieve.

She still felt herself lying back rigidly against the bed's mattress, unable to relax. Never had she been this vulnerable. If nothing else, she at least had to take care of the other gems and direct them in missions, but she couldn't even do that at the moment. She had been left alone, and couldn't do anything without help.

As Garnet's mind drifted back to Rose, she felt herself cringe inwardly. She couldn't be a leader in this condition. She was too weak. And she was failing to be the leader that Rose had wanted her to be.

* * *

"The only time that I remember your mother being ill was about a year before you were born," Greg Universe said to Steven. They were both sitting on the roof of the car wash, watching the sun begin to set. "She grew so weak that I was afraid I was going to lose her. That gemstone that was in her was glowing non-stop, and pulsing like it had a heart of its own. It was creepy."

"Wow, so how did she get better?" Steven asked, eyes wide open and full attention on his father.

"Well, she had the other gems collect some sort of serum from what they called a 'crystal shrimp.' They risked their lives; apparently, shrimp can be deadly," Greg said with a shrug.

"Wait, crystal shrimp?" Steven asked, standing up with his fists at his sides and staring at his father. "Dad, are you really sure that that was it?"

Greg nodded and turned back to the sunset. "It still took her awhile to get better, but the worst of the symptoms disappeared. After that, her body had to recover, but that had been the closest I had come to losing her," Greg said. Steven looked down for a moment, but Greg still smiled. "All of her, I mean," he clarified. "If I had lost her then, then I would have lost everything that I didn't know would mean so much to me."

Steven smiled at this, and lifted his shirt to see his gem. "I wish I had gotten to know her," he said quietly, and rolled his shirt back down.

Greg pushed himself onto the ladder, and began to climb down from the roof before offering his hand to Steven. Steven gratefully accepted it and stepped down from the roof of the car wash, and each of the two gentlemen parted ways.

"I have to get back to the gems," Steven said seriously, and gave his father a firm nod. "I think I know how we can help Garnet." As Steven took off toward the temple, he turned back once to Greg and yelled "Thanks, Dad! I love you!"

"Oh Rose," Greg said, raising his hand in a calm wave back to Steven. "I wish you could see this..."

* * *

Garnet sighed deeply as Pearl placed another wet cloth on her head.

"That's cold," Garnet rasped quietly, shivering.

"At least you're with us this time. Last time you woke up, your eyes seemed unable to focus," Pearl said. She and Amethyst had returned from the beach to find that Garnet had woken up, and was actually conscious of her surroundings. Pearl immediately began to treat her, much to the discomfort of Garnet. Garnet had not been one who was used to being taken care of.

Amethyst had left to get Steven and make sure that he was okay. When Pearl heard Steven calling out her name, she hopped down from Steven's room where Garnet lay and moved toward the door to find Amethyst and Steven smiling at her.

"We have news. Greg talked to Steven about Rose being sick and..." Amethyst began, but Steven raised his hand, and Amethyst respectfully stopped speaking.

"We have to get a crystal shrimp."

Pearl smacked the gem on her forehead and stared past the two gems. "Of course! Rose had symptoms just like Garnet...The medicine came from that shrimp!...But...wait...those are deadly! Steven, you need to stay here and take care of Garnet! Amethyst and I will be back soon!"

"Wait! I can help with this!" Steven begged. He listened for a moment and heard Garnet begin to cough, and turned around. She had tried to stand and fell onto her knees, still at the top of the stairs. Shaking, she looked up. Her glasses hadn't been on her face fo quite some time now, and Steven actually flinched when he saw Garnet look at the three gems desperately.

"Pearl, please, let him go."

Pearl stared back for a moment before she and Amethyst ran over and pulled Garnet back onto the bed.

"If Steven is going to go, you're going to have to cooperate! Garnet, please stop getting out of bed. It's hurting you."

Garnet nodded slowly, and coughed again. Tremors rocked through her.

"It was the serum that you needed, right?" Pearl asked, her head snapping back to Steven and Amethyst. Both of them nodded.

Pearl leaned over and began to search the cabinet, finding a small syringe. "Use this."

Steven grabbed the syringe, picking his whacky-sack up off the floor and stuffing it inside, before racing down the stairs with Amethyst and disappearing on the teleportation pad.


	7. Chapter 7

It didn't take much longer for Garnet to lose consciousness once Steven and Amethyst had left. Her temperature had finally spiked; if she were human, she would have been long dead.

Pearl hunched forward from where she sat, staring at Garnet with the deep concern, and her eyes brimmed with tears. Garnet had to know that by this point she was dying. She wasn't a fool.

Pearl's thoughts went back to how she had told Amethyst about the Sea Citadel they had visited a few days before they had the mission with the squid. The place had been void of all gem life for several decades; a virus had wiped out everyone who had been within the citadel. Garnet was unlucky, the only one who became sick, the strongest one of them, who couldn't become sick. The gems needed her too much for her to die. They would just be broken without her.

* * *

"Hey, so how are we supposed to find these shrimp anyway?" Steven said, staring down the Sea Citadel steps. Amethyst had brought them there because she remembered crystal shrimp being around. Some areas of the temple were harder to access; these were the areas the gems had to explore on their previous mission, places within the temple where the virus had been contained.

"Over there!" Amethyst said, pointing toward the statues of honored gems. There was a small shrimp, strangely sitting alone on the ground. "Let me tie him up! That way we don't risk touching the shards."

Amethyst nonchalantly pulled her whip out of her gem and swung it forward, smiling with satisfaction when she her a loud 'crack' and watched the whip wind itself around the crystal shrimp. Giving her whip a swift yank, Amethyst watched the subdued shrimp fly forward and land at the gems' feet.

"See? Nice and easy. We can get this back to Garnet and save her."

"All right!" Steven cheered, taking his cheeseburger-backpack off of his shoulders and pulling out the syringe that Pearl had given to him. As he poked the long syringe into an opening of skin where no shards were present on the shrimp, Steven looked up when he heard a sound like thunder. He drew back the plunger of the syringe, drawing out some of the shrimp's thick blood, and quickly put the syringe back into his bag.

Amethyst unwound her whip from around the small shrimp, and there was a loud roar. The floor began to crack and split in some spots, pillars that supported the roof toppling down, and the two gems watched in horror as a giant crystal shrimp crawled out from under the carved marble floor.

"Oh man..." Amethyst swore loudly, her whip ready. "Steven, get behind me!"

Steven dove behind Amethyst, his arms covering his head and his knees tucked in. Amethyst glared up at the monster, its long shards ominously reflecting the temple surroundings like an inverted mirror. As a shard shot outward at Amethyst, she swung her whip sideways and watched the shard shatter into several smaller pieces.

"Come on!" she yelled challengingly at the top of her lungs. "Is that the best you can do? Come on!"

Steven watched in horror as Amethyst ran at the giant shrimp, whip flailing. "No! Amethyst! Stop! Please!" he yelled, and his gem began to glow. Steven looked down in wonderment as his rose quartz lit up, and a shield slowly materialized. "What's happening?!" he asked, staring at the shield and shaking his head.

The shield suddenly launched itself at the monster's head while Steven freaked out, and knocked the beast's head sideways. Seeing the monster stunned, Amethyst took a chance and flung her whip forward, winding it around the shrimp's neck and pulling. Using nearly all of her strength, Amethyst finally heard a loud 'snap' and watched the beast go limp.

"That was close..." she said quietly. "Steven! Come on! We've got to get back to Garnet!"

"Wait, Amethyst, what just happened? It just..." Steven stared back down at his gem as it went dark and looked back up at Amethyst. The other gem shrugged in wonderment, but her urgency to get back to Beach City was clear.

"We'll discuss it later! Come ON!"

Steven caught up to Amethyst as they both raced back toward the place where they teleported into the temple, and returned home.

* * *

Pearl looked up from where she sat, and watched as Amethyst and Steven appeared within the house.

"You're back!" she called, and rushed down the stairs. Garnet's breathing was becoming more labored.

Steven nodded, and handed Pearl the syringe.

"Steven, this is perfect! This is wonderful!" she said, and rushed into the temple. "Look after Garnet!" she called back, and the heavy doors of the temple slammed behind her as she went to go create the medicine from the blood of the crystal shrimp.

Steven slowly walked upstairs and smiled when he saw Garnet. He calmly sat down beside where she was spread out, while Amethyst sat downstairs. Garnet shivered, drew in a deep breath, and punched the air sporadically for a moment. Steven leaned away from Garnet's sleep fighting, and began to draw the covers over her in order to keep her warm. The gem seemed to calm down after this, but still labored in breathing and fell into a coughing fit every now and then. For the moment, at least, she was still alive.

After maybe two hours where Steven was watching Garnet, Pearl returned with a syringe that was filled with a blue-colored liquid.

"This should be it," Pearl said quietly. "I don't know if we have this ready on time, but..." Pearl moved toward Garnet, carefully lifting the unconscious gem's arm and inserting the tip of the syringe into her wrist before pushing down on the plunger.

Garnet became completely still.


	8. Chapter 8

The gemstones on Garnet's hands glowed dully.

Amethyst watched, panicking, as Garnet went limp and and her muscles relaxed.

"What did you do?!" she asked, clutching the sides of her head and turning toward Pearl.

"I-I don't know!" Pearl said, shaking and tears falling from her eyes. "I don't know if we gave her the medicine on time!"

Amethyst and Pearl began arguing over whose fault it was that the medicine was given to Garnet late, but they both would only blame themselves.

Steven looked over at his mentor, his eyes wide and his shoulder's slumped forward, and sat down where Garnet lay. As Steven rested his head into the mattress of the bed, it muffled his crying. Amethyst and Pearl stopped arguing to a moment to look over at Steven, both of them stunned.

Garnet seemed to close her eyes more tightly for a moment.

* * *

_"Garnet, wake up."_

Garnet's eyes slowly blinked open, and for the first time in ages, she almost felt relaxed. The only thing holding her back was that she found herself in a small white room that she didn't recognize, and just couldn't let her guard down.

"_Relax, I'm not going to hurt you."_

The gem sat up when she heard the voice this time, and watched as a light pink hand very gently grasped her shoulder and pushed her back onto the bed that she was laying on. Garnet glanced upward to see Rose Quartz staring back at her.

"_Welcome back," _Rose laughed. She took out a small cold cloth and laid it across Garnet's forehead.

Garnet's eyes closed and she let out a deep sigh. Rose smiled and sat down.

"_Your team is worried," _Rose said quietly, watching the gem relax.

It took awhile before Garnet finally spoke. "I can't protect them like this."

"_They can handle themselves for awhile. It's you that they are worried about. My son especially."_

"...Am I still fit to be a leader?"

_"Even more_ so_ than before you became sick. I'm not the one who made you leader, and there is a reason that neither Amethyst nor Pearl took the lead of the Crystal Gems either."_

Garnet was silent for awhile, and grateful for the cold cloth. Rose simply looked down at her and smiled.

"Why can't I summon my weapon?" Garnet finally asked.

_"Because this is a peaceful place," _Rose replied. "_So tell me...How is my son doing?"_

"He's safe. I've tried to look after him, but I failed. The other two are watching him."

"_But how have you failed if he is safe? Garnet, of all those people who died at the Sea Citadel, you happen to have a team loyal enough to give their best efforts to save you. That's not failing; it's love."_

Garnet felt her eyes shoot open and she turned and stared at Rose.

_"Why do you find this strange? Love created you." _Garnet stared at the other gem and drank in her words.

"That's not something that I understand."

"_You have a lifetime to think about it. Goodbye, dear."_

"Wait! I-" Garnet was cut off as the white room around her began to blur, and she felt herself relax involuntarily onto the fading bed. Her eyes finally shut and she felt herself lie back.

* * *

Steven heard a small sob, and looked up to see tears running out of Garnet's closed eyes.

"Rose," she murmured softly, and more tears fell. Her gemstones let out a faint, vibrant glow.

Steven gasped and turned to Pearl and Amethyst, who were lying on the ground in silence. "GUYS! She spoke! SHE SPOKE!"

Pearl shot up from where she was lying, partly shoving Steven aside as she moved to get a better look at Garnet. Amethyst was beside her in an instant, keeping a steadying hand on Steven's shoulder after he was pushed aside.

Pearl stared at Garnet in astonishment.

"She's crying," Pearl said softly. "She still has a fever...Steven, would you get another cold cloth?"

Steven nodded and saluted before running downstairs and soaking a washcloth in cold water. When he came back up, Amethyst and Pearl were still staring at their leader, watching her breathing as it became less labored. She still coughed every now and then, but it never turned into a fit.

Pearl took the cloth from Steven and gently rested it over Garnet's forehead, and dared to smile. "I've never seen her this peaceful," she said, sounding motherly.

"Yeah, this is a bit weird, especially when we have never seen her sick," Amethyst said, but smiled. "Still, I bet that she must have had some crazy dreams."

Steven smiled and nodded. "Her skin is returning to a more normal color. She's not as pale."

The three gems, still caught up in strangely-calm happiness at the fact that Garnet was alive, sat in vigil with her for the rest of the night.

* * *

**Still not done yet. Next chapter coming soon!**


	9. Chapter 9

Garnet slept easily through the night with a small smile on her face. She was still pretty sick; her fever hadn't broken, and she still seemed a bit pale, but the danger period was over.

When Garnet's eyes blinked open for the first time since she was given the medicine, she slowly sat up, her muscles stiff. She glanced sideways to see Pearl and Amethyst had slept spread out beside her on the bed, Amethyst protectively holding Pearl. Garnet smiled at seeing this, and looked down to see Steven asleep with his knees on the ground, and his arms and head draped over the edge of the mattress.

Garnet softly ruffled Steven's hair, and sat back, closing her eyes. Pale sunlight streamed in through the window. Garnet thought back to her dream with Rose, and sobbed quietly. It had been perhaps the strangest dream she had ever had, and yet somehow the most comforting.

Steven looked up from where he as resting, rubbing his eyes before glancing up at Garnet.

"Hey," he said quietly. "Garnet, are you alright?"

Garnet stopped sobbing long enough to look over at Steven, but tear tracks were worn into her face. "Yeah, I'm fine," she said dismissively. Her voice cracked in the middle of that statement.

"Here, I have an idea!" Steven said, bouncing up and down excitedly. "I made soup for you the other day! Do you want some?"

Garnet smiled and nodded in affirmation. Steven bounced downstairs and camp back up a moment later with two bowls of soup, handing one of them to Garnet.

"I made a mix of alphabet and chicken soup, 'cause that's what my dad does whenever I get sick!" Steven said proudly. Garnet slowly took a spoonful of the soup, and smiled at how surprisingly-wonderful it tasted.

"So, how long have I been asleep?" she asked quietly.

"It's been about a week since you collapsed at the boardwalk," Steven explained, and began to go over the details of how Garnet had come to this state.

"So, you and Amethyst managed to kill a giant crystal shrimp? That's good," Garnet said stoically, taking another mouthful of soup. She paused for a moment and looked down. "Wait...Didn't you make this a week ago?" she asked, turning pale.

Steven's eyes widened as he realized that the gem was about to be sick, so he turned and helped Garnet stand, and quickly helped her outside the house.

When they returned, Steven helped Garnet back up the stairs and onto the bed before he shook his head. "Amethyst ate the original batch. I made that soup this morning, but I guess you aren't quite ready for that yet."

Garnet smiled calmly and ran her hand right over her three eyes, and her glasses appeared in their normal place. "Guess not," she said, lying her head back.

Pearl awoke, stretching out slightly before realizing that she was in Amethyst's arms and flinching away. Amethyst fell off of the bed and lifelessly onto the floor, snoring loudly. Steven laughed loudly, and Garnet chuckled.

"Garnet, you're awake!" Pearl cried, hugging the other gem.

* * *

"Hey! Steven! How are you holding up?"

Steven perked up when he heard his father's voice, and ran toward the door. Letting his father inside, Greg Universe stepped inside the house part of the temple and whistled loudly.

"Bigger than I remember," he said quietly.

"Hey Greg," Amethyst called nonchalantly from where she was splayed over the couch. "How are you?"

"Not bad, came to see how you guys and Garnet were doing," Greg said with a simple shrug, and looked upstairs.

Garnet was sleeping peacefully, having not fought with the other gems about what was best for her in that moment. Her fever had broken only a moment ago, and she was sweating a bit.

"Steven, is this normal?" Pearl called from upstairs.

"Yes, I saw it happen to Rose," Greg called back instead. "She might not be able to eat much for awhile in order to recover her strength, but she should get progressively better."

"Thank you, Greg," Pearl said with a simple smile. "What you told us helped a lot. Garnet would have died otherwise."

Greg shrugged and smiled. "Anything that I can do to help."

* * *

Garnet stirred and opened her eyes, sitting up from where she was on the bed. Steven sat at her bedside, waiting with his ukulele in hand. He quietly began to sing, and Garnet watched him calmly. Finished with a chord, Steven looked over and grinned.

"How was that? That was the song I wanted to show you guys when you returned from the Squid Mission."

"Very good. Your playing is getting even better," Garnet commented.

"Thanks, Garnet," Steven said, a big smile on his face. "So, can you tell me why you were crying earlier?"

Garnet paused for a moment, and looked Steven in the eye.

"You were also crying when you were asleep. Were you in pain?" Steven pressed.

"Yes," Garnet said finally. "I was in pain. There was something that I couldn't understand about all of this, and then I thought that I saw your mother."

Steven looked briefly stunned, before he shook his head and spoke again.

"What did she say?" he asked curiously, leaning forward.

"Shhh," Garnet said, pulling Steven into a hug.

Garnet ruffled his hair and let him go before she turned away and closed her eyes, intent on getting more rest.

* * *

**I had to make a chapter of pure fluff before I wrote the epilogue...I know that I have been updating this fic at lightning speed, but that is really because I was very inspired. Like, the legitimate opposite of writer's block happened to me. Don't expect this to happen with my other stories ;)**

**Thank you all for your support and reading. It means a lot. **

**One more chapter, coming up soon.**


	10. Chapter 10

Garnet drew in a deep breath, summoning her gauntlets. Steven stood at her knees, looking up eagerly.

"So, you're saying that your shield appeared when you freaked out?" Garnet said seriously, glancing down at Steven.

"Yeah," Steven said eagerly, arms raised. "It was so cool! It hit the crystal shrimp and stunned him."

Garnet nodded. "That's pretty good. Let's work."

Throughout the morning, Garnet gave Steven very light combat training at his request.

It had been a week since she was able to stand on her own. Pearl and Amethyst were both very wary of Garnet's condition, looking for any signs of illness. In fact, for the first few days Garnet could stand, Pearl and Amethyst kept her from going back out on missions, and despite her objections, made her rest so to avoid relapse.

As Garnet calmly thrust another fist forward into a tree, demonstrating technique for her apprentice, her thoughts drifted back to her dream about Rose.

"_You are made of love," Rose had said. _

As Garnet pondered this, Steven turned and stared at her, cross-legged and eyes in the shape of stars.

"So...can we work on summoning my weapon?" Steven asked quietly, leaning one ear forward.

Garnet shifted her gaze away from the tree and looked down.

"Do you think that you can summon it now?" she asked calmly.

"I don't know," Steven said, suddenly staring at the grass. "I wondered if you could help me understand why it appeared."

"Have you considered the circumstances in which it appeared?" she asked thoughtfully.

"Well...You were in danger...and Amethyst was in danger...and it just...sort of happened," Steven explained with a shrug, standing up.

"What were you thinking of?" Garnet asked stoically.

"I was thinking that I never want anyone to get hurt, not as long as I can protect them," Steven said, thinking back to the moment when he and Amethyst were in the Sea Citadel. As soon as he said this, his gem began to glow faintly from under his shirt. "I mean, it would be awful to lose you guys...That's why I want to fight. I know that you guys are strong, but I don't want to risk losing any of you if I can prevent it...You all are my family."

The rose quartz began to glow more deeply, illuminating a soft red light while Steven kept his eyes closed and thought. Garnet stared at him in slight shock.

"_He's doing it..."_ she thought.

"If my weapon is really a shield, and if I can't protect you guys, then I'm not worthy of being a gem..." Steven went on, and Garnet gasped as the gem glow began to fade rapidly.

"Steven! Stop thinking that you're not worthy! Your gem was responding!" Garnet almost shouted, her voice edged with slight panic. "You're a crystal gem for a reason! Just be yourself!"

Steven's eyes snapped open as he looked down at his gem to see a dim, fading glow. "How do I get it back?!" he panicked.

"Relax," Garnet said level-headedly. "Just think of what you were thinking of before..."

Steven grunted with effort as he tried to recall what he had been thinking, and then looked at Garnet pleadingly.

A thought dawned on Garnet and she turned back to Steven with a calm smile. "Think of your mother."

Immediately, the creases of worry on Steven's face relaxed as he stood up straight, and, slowly, his gem began to glow. The glow finally stopped growing once the rose quartz was letting off a pure and vibrant red color, but the glow refused to yield as it bathed the surrounding grass.

"Hm," Garnet said, shrugging. She began to cough lightly, and felt herself go slightly numb.

Steven's eyes popped open at the sound of Garnet coughing, and his gem glow instantly stopped. He didn't care.

"Garnet!" he said, rushing over as Garnet seemed to sag slightly where she stood, and helped keep her somewhat steady. "Are you alright? We should head back. You need to rest."

Garnet nodded and smiled. "It's just a little cough, Steven. Don't worry so much."

Steven calmly helped Garnet back to the temple as the sun was setting on the beach. As the two gems walked into the house part of the temple, Pearl glanced up from where she stood in the kitchen, making dinner for Steven and Amethyst.

"How was training?" Pearl asked with a smile. Amethyst was sprawled over the couch.

"It was good, but Garnet still felt a bit sick at the end," Steven said with a smile, and helped a quiet Garnet upstairs.

"Ugh, I knew you shouldn't have gone out yet!" Pearl called up exasperatedly, shaking her head. She smiled. "Make sure that she gets rest, Steven! Don't let her out until that cough is completely gone!"

"Okay!" Steven called back with a thumbs up hanging over the side of the floor so that Pearl could see it.

"Lighten up," Amethyst said with a lazy smile, waving a hand dismissively. "Garnet knows her limits."

For once, Pearl responded calmly to Amethyst's refute.

"But it won't due us any good if we always have to look out for her."

"Hm..." Amethyst responded thoughtfully. "That would be hard."

* * *

"Steven," Garnet said from where she was spread out on Steven's bed. "Thank you."

Steven smiled, leaned over, and hugged Garnet.

"Garnet," he said quietly, and smiled. "Don't push yourself too hard, okay? We love you, and we don't ever want to lose you."

Garnet smiled and chuckled slightly. "Not before my time," she said calmly, and closed her eyes.

Steven took up the seat beside the bed, and began idly tuning his ukulele as Garnet rested.

* * *

**And that's the end! =)This was actually one of the hardest chapters to right. After all that, it was hard to figure out how to end. This feels right, though. **

**Thanks to everyone's support throughout this story. This story was a milestone for me, as it is the first time I have sat down and wrote a multi-chapter fic, and it is the first Steven Universe fic that I have created. **

**Thanks especially for all the reviews! =)**


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